NOIRLab's NOIRLab Source Catalog DR2, which contains 4 billion celestial objects, has been searched by citizen scientists to uncover brown dwarf companions. He discovered 34 ultracool dwarf binary systems, nearly doubling the number previously known.

There are brown dwarfs between the largest planets and the smallest stars. Brown dwarfs lack the mass needed to sustain nuclear reactions in their cores, so they resemble cooling embers on a massive scale.

Due to their faintness and small size, they are difficult to identify. Several thousand objects have been discovered using sensitive telescopes, but only a small number have been identified as binaries. Astronomers are still unsure how often brown dwarfs have companions due to the difficulty in observing these faint embers.

Over 100,000 citizen scientists have previously helped astronomers of the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project identify brown dwarfs by scrutinizing telescope images to identify subtle motions of brown dwarfs.

The human eye is still a unique resource when it comes to scouring telescope images for moving objects, despite machine learning and supercomputers.

An astronomer at NSF's NOIRLab and co-founder of Backyard Worlds, Aaron Meisner, commented, 'The Backyard Worlds project has fostered a diverse community of talented volunteers.'

About 150 thousand volunteers have participated in Backyard Worlds, including several hundred 'super users' who carry out ambitious self-directed research.

One such 'super sleuth,' citizen scientist Frank Kiwi, embarked on a research project involving the NOIRLab Source Catalog DR2, a catalog containing nearly 4 billion unique celestial objects in NOIRLab's Astro Data Archive.

Kiwi discovered more than 2500 potential ultracool dwarfs in the archive by searching for objects with the color of brown dwarfs. A total of 34 systems with a white dwarf or low-mass star and an ultracool dwarf companion were examined for comoving companions. A scientific paper was then published by Kiwi and a team of professional astrophysicists.

As soon as you master the regular workflow, you can dive much deeper into the subject,' commented Kiwi. It might be right for you if you are curious and not afraid to learn something new.'

NOIRLab's data archive has a reach far beyond professional astronomers, notes Chris Davis, the NSF's Program Director for NOIRLab. The public can also take part in cutting-edge research and directly experience the joy of cosmic discovery.'

In addition to being an inspiring example of citizen science, these discoveries could offer insights into how star systems evolve, as well as help astronomers, determine whether brown dwarfs are similar to oversized planets or undersized stars.

Using astronomical archives and science platforms such as NOIRLab's Astro Data Archive and Astro Data Lab at the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), scientists continue to make a significant contribution to astronomy.

Aaron Meisner concluded, 'These discoveries were made by an amateur astronomer who conquered astronomical big data.' The modern archives of astronomy often contain major discoveries awaiting discovery.